Overeager Brainstorming
For my first composition, I have a couple of different themes I think I could write about. One of the first ones would stem from my fascination with all the colors I saw in the city. This ranges from public art, architecture, and all the greenery I saw. I realize I might like this theme better for the field guide portion of the final, but it might be fun to not only visually describe the vibrancy of Chicago but make some good use of imagery to create a story as well. My second idea, which could also work for my field guide portion, would be telling a story of Chicago through food. Even through Immersion Week, one of the biggest things I noticed about the city was that there is always somewhere to eat. Even better, I could write about the farmer’s markets bringing fresh produce into the highly urban area or about the expression of culture through food. My third idea would be to write about the architecture of the city. I took so many pictures of the inside of restaurants and businesses, as well as hotels or apartment buildings, even the video I took inside of a Target. This could be an interesting angle for me because since I have lived in a mostly corporate-filled area, the contrast of the small businesses lining the streets could make for something fun to write about- seeing as I have not quite written about something like this before. (249).
For the second portion of the final project, I would love to take some time to utilize my passion for creativity by illustrating a large portion of the field guides. Considering my already pretty busy schedule, this may not be as feasible as I would like it to be, but I think it would be fun. Worst comes to worst, it may still be fun to only compile pictures and then add a drawing over it. I would love to draw one overall map with several stops on it, and then do a more fully fleshed-out drawing of those stops. I think this could fit well with any of the themes I had noted above but above all, I really want to make sure this portion of the project is vibrant. I also found the prompt of collecting objects to be interesting as well, I could draw these or annotate their importance within the field guide. Either way, I think adding drawings would be a good way for me to demonstrate the way I saw the city from my perspective. (181).
Reading Journal:
- Why do Krygier and Wood claim that maps are not representations of the world? Could maps have a meaning that is subjective to its readers? Is it important to have several different maps created that depict the same area?
I believe that Krygier and Wood make the claim that maps are not representations because representations are meant to imitate something else or stand in the place of something else. Instead, maps help identify and affirm the existence of any number of things, buildings, businesses, streets, etc. I also believe that they claim this due to the fact that maps are meant to calm anxieties about some uncertainties, i.e., the location of subjects within a larger destination. Maps have the possibility of being subjective to their readers mostly because the places they represent are subjective to their creators. Krygier mentions that if you ask someone to make a map of a place, there are an infinite number of ways they may find to label and make distinctions of this place. It is most definitely important that there are several maps made of the same place. There are many maps of Chicago representing the evolution of history in boundaries and construction, and this distinction proves to be more important for many countries who have fought for independence as their fight can be affirmed through the creation of a new map. (189).
